The Tour of Litchfield Hills this year was VERY well supported. I dont have a lot of tour experience to judge by, but there were 3 rest stops will food and water along the 30 mile route, an ambulance for a SAG wagon, and a nice reception when you returned to the finish, with pizza and spaghetti. Also, there's lots of excellent views along the way.

Of course, any tour with the word HILLS in it, you get an idea of what to expect, and we did get buzzed by some "local color" (I usually call them hicks, but was trying to be PC) in a big ole green pickup truck. But it was kind of funny watching 20 or 30 cyclists flip off the same cager in unison...

I'm only 5'7" though....currently 160 right now, which isn't TOO bad, but still too heavy for serious climbing duties.

I used to be 135ish pounds in my late teens, and could fly up the hills on a good day. I'd like to get back there again, but as we age, our bones get more dense and such, so I figure 140-145 pounds would be ok.

I'm about 180 and to even drop 10lbs to 170 would be a huge improvement......
I've been there before and know....
Don't think I have the diet willpower or time to ride to get much below that....
....and with winter cold & less daylight on the way I'll be happy to come out in Spring @ 175lbs.
But you never know.....

Hey, nathank8792 I live in East lyme too. I work at Niantic Bay Bicycles. You should come in and introduce yourself. My name is john and I am only 16. Pretty hard to miss me in the shop. vbmenu_register("postmenu_2973516", true);

I'm from CT. I have a little route I do that takes me from Suffield, West Suffield, Feeding Hills then back again. I've gone from Suffield to Windsor Locks, Bloomfield, Windsor, East Granby, Granby. I ride alone so I don't venture too too far from home. I've done this route for two years now so next spring I'll have to change it up a little.

We have a cycling club from work, Hamilton Sundstrand in Windsor Locks. There are nice loops near bys. We ride around Windsor, Suffield and into Agawam (Lake Congamond). West of Windsor Locks has some nice climbs.

Wow,
Didn't know that Hamilton had a cycling club since I also work there! I do most of my rides from around Ellington either solo, or with my wife. Primary areas are South Windsor, East Windsor, Somers, Tolland, East Longmeadow. Occasionally will ride through Bloomfield, Suffield, and Granby on the west and as far as Woodstock on the East.

Ha! I didnít think there would be anyone posting from my area of the state. What a pleasant surprise. My usual loop is pretty quiet and offers a peaceful ride and I see plenty of cyclists out on the roads when I ride too. GW, the Granby area is very pretty. I have a friend who lives in Granby and I rode to her house from mine one day. She thought I was out of my mind for cycling there (who knows, maybe I was!). So many scenic areas to ride, both east and west of the River. Steve, I would be interested in knowing what roads your group travels on. Iíve ridden on Route 20 in East Granby but I try to avoid it if I can. Next spring, Iíll find a new route/loop that Iím comfortable riding which takes me further out west for my weekend rides. I used to ride north into Agawam a few years ago (RT 75 and RT 159). Cars and their drivers made drove me insane so I stopped going in that direction. Iím not too familiar with the Congamond Lakes area in Southwick, MA. Iíve only traveled as far as the intersection of Route 168 and Babbs Road (Route 585) on bike which is near the area of the Congamond Lake on the CT side.

Anyhoo, I think cycling outdoors is pretty much over for me this year. I rode a lot though. No complaints. I guess I should dust the trainer offÖ..

Hi Helen....we have a seasonal campsite up at Prospect Mountain Campground over in Granville, MA (Rte. 57), which is just to the west of Southwick. So....in the summer, I'm up there most weekends, and bring my bike. I will ride on Rte. 168, 187, 189, 20, 10/202, and 57 quite a bit....there's a really nice loop that I start at the Big Y parking lot on Rte. 10 in Southwick, head out on Rte. 168 over to 187, west on Rte. 20 (CT), and then up Rte. 10 back to Big Y. It's around 20 miles, and a pretty flat ride....only like 600 feet of climbing.

Another loop I like is starting at the Granville Elementary School on Rte. 57, I'll head east on 57 towards Southwick (a nice long downhill section ), and then head south on Rte. 10. I then head west on Rte. 20 for a short bit, and then take Rte. 189 north, up to Rte. 57. Take a right on Rte. 57, and then back to the school. That's a nice 23ish mile loop with around 1,400 feet of climbing, but nothing really steep....just constant in parts.

A really long and painful loop I've done is starting at the campground, I head west on Rte. 57, over to Rte. 8. Take Rte. 8 north, up to Rte. 20, past Otis. Then take Rte. 20 down (after a bit of a climb, there's a good 23+ miles of mostly downhill) to Rte. 23, which I head west on Rte. 23 until I reached a "side road" to get back over to Rte. 57. That ride climbed just over 4,000 feet, and keep in mind that there's well over 20 miles of descending for a stretch. Took me nearly 4 hours to do that one, and my 34x27 saw a LOT of usage. That was around 62 miles I think. The Berkshires can be brutal.

I attempted the Vernon 2 Vernon Century this past Sept (Vernon, VT to Vernon, CT) put on by Vernon Bike, but had to SAG out at the lunch stop 40 miles into it due to illness. Seemed like a great ride, and I can't wait to do it (and actually complete it) next year. The first 40 miles were very flat, and some awesome roads to ride on.

Wow,
Didn't know that Hamilton had a cycling club since I also work there! I do most of my rides from around Ellington either solo, or with my wife. Primary areas are South Windsor, East Windsor, Somers, Tolland, East Longmeadow. Occasionally will ride through Bloomfield, Suffield, and Granby on the west and as far as Woodstock on the East.

Which building are you in? I am in 1A. We usually rides every Thursday, meet at the horseshoe in front of building 1 at 4:45pm. Tomorrow's weather does not look good and I think we are done until next Spring. It is dark by 6:30 now.

Ha! I didnít think there would be anyone posting from my area of the state. What a pleasant surprise. My usual loop is pretty quiet and offers a peaceful ride and I see plenty of cyclists out on the roads when I ride too. GW, the Granby area is very pretty. I have a friend who lives in Granby and I rode to her house from mine one day. She thought I was out of my mind for cycling there (who knows, maybe I was!). So many scenic areas to ride, both east and west of the River. Steve, I would be interested in knowing what roads your group travels on.... Helen

One of our route take us down Rt75, cut Kennedy to Rt 159, head North into Suffield, then cut into town center, down Rt168 to Rt187. Another route is to cross Rt20 on International Drive, up Rt187 into Agawam, make first left after you cross the state line onto Barry St. Continue West and you will get to Lake Congamond. Another route take us down Et159, cross the bridge into South Windsor and loop around East Windsor, cross over to Rt140 and back into Windsor Locks. You have a lot of nice roads to ride on in Suffield. We are pretty much done this year too, perhaps you can join us next year. I agree about the traffic, we ride around the airport too to avoid Rt75.

A really long and painful loop I've done is starting at the campground, I head west on Rte. 57, over to Rte. 8. Take Rte. 8 north, up to Rte. 20, past Otis. Then take Rte. 20 down (after a bit of a climb, there's a good 23+ miles of mostly downhill) to Rte. 23, which I head west on Rte. 23 until I reached a "side road" to get back over to Rte. 57. That ride climbed just over 4,000 feet, and keep in mind that there's well over 20 miles of descending for a stretch. Took me nearly 4 hours to do that one, and my 34x27 saw a LOT of usage. That was around 62 miles I think. The Berkshires can be brutal.

Ah yes, that part has some wicked hills. That sounds like a nice loop.

Well, yeah....that was fun....never did that before, I kept waiting for it to end any minute, figuring RouteSlip was insane and accidentally had this mega section of downhill in the middle of the ride.

Wow! So many cyclists near me. We probably pass each other from time to time.

Although I have done much of my riding up North this year, I have a 50 and 80 mile training loop that I do from my home when I am not going to an event.

I generally cycle from South Windsor, Windsor, Windsor Locks, East Windsor, Enfield, sometimes into MA, Somers, Ellington .... and work my way back to home base. I did one of my loops Monday afternoon and the foliage was absolutely gorgeous (not to mention Monday's weather as 4-star).

It is getting mighty dark and mighty cold outside and I am likely headed for indoor training until the Spring. Hate it.

Yeah.....I am dreading trainer season. I really want to get a nice HID lighting system, but it's currently not in the budget. I have a couple Cateye EL-500's, but I want something A) bright, and B) rechargable.